Photos: Paul Ryan

Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan used a chilly Wednesday-evening rally at a park in the military city of Colorado Springs to tout his and running mate Mitt Romney's support for the armed forces.

In a shout-out that expanded upon his normal stump speech, Ryan talked about the campaign's support for increased military funding, saying, "We need a strong military. We believe in peace through strength."

Ryan criticized President Barack Obama on missile defense, pointing to an overheard comment Obama made earlier this year to then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he needed "flexibility" on missile-defense negotiations. Ryan said he and Romney would back missile defense unequivocally.

"We believe in and support missile defense," Ryan said. "Missile defense is necessary to keep us safe."

The rally, attended by 2,000 people in Colorado Springs' America the Beautiful Park, capped a busy day for Ryan in Colorado.

Earlier in the day, he held a town hall in Fort Collins.

Armed with Power Point slides showing debt per person, Ryan fielded questions ranging from foreign policy to welfare reform at the town hall, held at a lawn mower manufacturing plant.

More than a thousand people attended the town hall — Ryan's second visit to Colorado since being announced as Romney's running mate in August.

"Mitt Romney and I want to deserve your support," Ryan said, adding that the team wanted a "mandate to begin fixing what's wrong in this country."

Larimer County is considered among the most competitive battlegrounds in Colorado, with voter registration breaking down roughly equal among unaffiliated voters, Republicans and Democrats.

"I think with 43 days to go, it's very much still up in the air," said Colorado Attorney General John Suthers. "I think it's a dead heat in Colorado. A lot can change in 43 days, and I start with the proposition that Colorado is a tossup."

The Spot Blog

But over the weekend, Ryan appeared to relax at a rally in Florida, reverting back to a Power Point and wonky talk about the federal debt.

"It's Paul Ryan being Paul Ryan doing what he does best," said Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, who was among the speakers at Walker Manufacturing Wednesday. "It's him sharing with the American people his vision."

Democrats, at press events in both Fort Collins and Colorado Springs, attempted to put Ryan's vision in a different light. They criticized Ryan and Romney for budget proposals they said would hurt financial aid for college students. And they renewed criticism of Romney for remarks he made at a fund-raiser in which he appeared dismissive of Americans who do not pay federal income taxes.

"When Mitt Romney wrote off one-half of Americans, that included students, seniors and military serving in our combat zones," Colorado U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet said in a statement. "While President Obama has stood up for our nation's veterans and military families, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan simply have not made our veterans and military families a priority."

In Fort Collins, Ryan brandished slides about the national debt and the growing deficit. The debt now is $16,000 per person. During the town hall, Ryan comfortably pivoted between foreign policy, welfare reform and economic policy.

He called the pending problems in the nation's economy — Colorado's unemployment rate, at 8.2 percent, legs the national number of 8.1 percent — "the most predictable economic crisis we've ever had."

"I remember 2008 like it was yesterday," he said. "Look at all the layoffs, look at all the unemployment ... What if at that time, your president knew it was coming ... but didn't do the right thing because he was trying to get re-elected?"

The crowd booed.

One woman told Ryan that she had a job, but also collected welfare because she was taking home $316 every two weeks. She asked how he would fix the economy so she could get a better job. Ryan launched into a six-minute answer about the White House failure in attempts at welfare reform and breaking the cycle of poverty.

"We need to address the root causes of poverty and break the cycle of poverty," he said. "People need skills."

On foreign policy, Ryan said Obama's policies were failing around the world — something that was evident if "you just turn on your TV," he said, referring to upheaval in Libya and Syria.

"We have had four diplomats who died," he said.

Walker Manufacturing has 155 employees and is located on the south side of Fort Collins. The plant builds lawn mowers and other outdoor equipment.

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.

The Boulder alt-country band gives its EPs names such as Death and Resurrection, and its songs bear the mark of hard truths and sin. But the punk energy behind the playing, and the sense that it's all in good fun, make it OK to dance to a song like "Death." Full Story